Infant affect response in the face-to-face still face among Chinese- and European American mother-infant dyads

Abstract

Early face-to-face interactions with caregivers allow infants to learn how to express and exchange emotions with others. Within the field, however, the research regarding infant regulatory processes across cultures remains limited. The Double Face-to-Face Still Face (FFSF) paradigm provided an opportunity to examine infant affect in dyadic interactions with European American (EA, n = 54) and Chinese American (CA, n = 48) infants and caregivers. Consistent with our hypothesis that CA infants are less reactive than EA infants, CA infants in our study showed less negative and more neutral affect compared to EA infants. We also examined the number of infants who were unable to complete the full FFSF paradigm due to high levels of distress (e.g., 30-sec of sustained hard cries). Compared to EA infants, more CA infants were unable to complete the paradigm due to negative affect (e.g., sustained cries). Analyses showed an association between mothers’ negative affect from the start of the paradigm with infant incompletion of the paradigm. These findings point to cultural differences in infant affect within the FFSF. As well, researchers should consider the characteristics of infants who do not complete the FFSF paradigm as they can provide meaningful data in understanding infant affect and regulation. Taken together, our findings suggest that the Double FFSF paradigm provides a reasonable threshold for distinguishing infants on their ability to regulate during a repeated social stressor.